Thursday, May 11, 2017

The Monday night melee has been a long time coming. No-frills Spirit was already infamous for its cancellations and delays, even before its labor dispute with pilots. It was inevitable that frustrated customers would act out.

Spirit had the lowest rate of on-time arrivals of any domestic carrier in 2016, according to the Air Quality Rating from Wichita State University. It also had the highest rate of passenger complaints in 2016.

Irate passengers at Fort Lauderdale Airport brawled with Spirit Airlines employees and police officers Monday evening, after the carrier cancelled flights due to labor disputes with its pilots.

This latest incident follows a wave of clashes between passengers and airline employees caught on video, including the dragging of passenger David Dao off a United Airlines flight last month.

The events have worried both the traveling public and US lawmakers.

Passenger Mutiny

If a picture is worth a thousand words, a video is worth a million.

The pervasiveness of social media and legions of tech-savvy citizens around the globe documenting airline missteps large and small on a daily basis is a tremendous help to passenger rights organizations. But, does that 24/7 access ever become too much?

Technology has really allowed passengers to shine a spotlight on the traveling experience - for good and bad. Yet, when it rains, it pours - it seems every week an airline abuse video goes viral.

Are Spirit's Pilots On Strike?The pilot union says no - the pilots have just stopped volunteering for extra shifts. Spirit's management says pilots are refusing to work overtime, which they claim is an illegal 'job action' coordinated by the Air Line Pilots Association to apply pressure during contract negotiations.

For the past several days Spirit has cancelled around 15% of flights. This is a bitter labor dispute and pilots say they are fed up that the company is not offering them a fair contract.

Spirit management has responded with filing a lawsuit, claiming it had to cancel over 300 flights nationally and internationally this past week because of the union's actions.

Spirit's Twitter pa ge was full of passengers complaining that Spirit is blaming the cancellations on weather - but a few have gotten the truth of what's going on by talking to gate employees.

Imagine, an airline lying to passengers and saying that cancellations are due to weather, when in fact, it's crew shortages. Where have we heard that before?

Therefore, it appears that Spirit is using 'weather' to circumvent compensation, and blaming their pilots internally.

To wrap up, people are not just mad at the airlines, they're furious and demanding to be treated better. Who knows if we're going to see more of this backlash in the coming months - just get ready for a long summer!

TIME SINCE CONGRESS HAS FAILED TO REACH A DEAL ON PASSENGER RIGHTS:

30 DAYS

Today is Day 30, and counting since Dr. Dao was dragged off a United flight.

The airlines' CEO and Chicago airport police have defended the violent removal of Dr. Dao for refusing to give up his seat. Then they apologized and made a secret financial settlement with a gag order.

Hearings held by the House and Senate on May 2 and May 4 threatened new regulations, and yet the Department of Transportation and Federal Aviation Agency have said and done nothing.

In the meantime, videos of American Airlines and Delta Air lines abuse of passengers have gone viral.

US airlines say they want more power over passengers, control of Air Traffic Control and the authority to tax passengers.

Wall Street bets United customers will forgive and forget. CEO Oscar Munoz says no United employee will be disciplined. He gets $14 million bonus and United stock rebounds.

www.flyersrights.org

Intention of this blog

We are commited to solutions for promoting airline passenger policies that forward first and foremost the safety of all passengers while not imposing unrealistic economic burdens that adversely affect airline profitability or create exhorbitant ticket price increases.

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Proposed Airline Passengers' Bill of Rights

All American air carriers shall abide by the following standards to ensure the safety, security and comfort of their passengers:

Establish procedures to respond to all passenger complaints within 24 hours and with appropriate resolution within 2 weeks.

Notify passengers within ten minutes of a delay of known diversions, delays and cancellations via airport overhead announcement, on aircraft announcement, and posting on airport television monitors.

Establish procedures for returning passengers to terminal gate when delays occur so that no plane sits on the tarmac for longer than three hours without connecting to a gate.

Provide for the essential needs of passengers during air- or ground-based delays of longer than 3 hours, including food, water, sanitary facilities, and access to medical attention.

Provide for the needs of disabled, elderly and special needs passengers by establishing procedures for assisting with the moving and retrieving of baggage, and the moving of passengers from one area of airport to another at all times by airline personnel.

Publish and update monthly on the company’s public web site a list of chronically delayed flights, meaning those flight delayed thirty minutes or more, at least forty percent of the time, during a single month.

Compensate “bumped” passengers or passengers delayed due to flight cancellations or postponements of over 12 hours by refund of 150% of ticket price.

The formal implementation of a Passenger Review Committee, made up of non-airline executives and employees but rather passengers and consumers – that would have the formal ability to review and investigate complaints.

Make lowest fare information, schedules and itineraries, cancellation policies and frequent flyer program requirements available in an easily accessed location and updated in real-time.

Ensure that baggage is handled without delay or injury; if baggage is lost or misplaced, the airline shall notify customer of baggage status within 12 hours and provide compensation equal to current market value of baggage and its contents.

Require that these rights apply equally to all airline code-share partners including international partners.